Canadians say immigration working well

[pampango]

http://www.thestar.com/news/investigations/immigration/article/932995--canadians-say-immigration-working-well

“Canadians are still overwhelmingly positive about immigration. They are not as afraid of losing their jobs and lowering wages due to immigration,” said Delancey Gustin, an author of the 2010 Immigration Public Opinion Survey, released Thursday.

Ryerson University professor Myer Siemiatycki, an immigration and diversity expert, said he was surprised by Canadians’ pro-immigrant views despite what he called Ottawa’s campaign (from a Conservative government) in the last year “to stoke resentment against immigrants and migration.”

“It tells us that Canadians really value and appreciate immigration and recognize the benefits it brings,” he said. Sixty-five per cent of Canadians said immigrants were well-integrated, but only 45 per cent thought so with Muslim newcomers.

Only 27 per cent of Canadians said immigration was “more of a problem” than an opportunity – a ratio much lower than their counterparts in Europe and south of the border.

Eighty per cent of Canadians believed migrants coming for employment should be admitted as permanent residents, a sign of dissent over the federal government’s push to bring in foreigners as temporary guest workers, Siemiatycki said.

[Canuckistanian]

1. I'll go even further than that

I think it's criminal that professional immigrants can't find jobs in their professions. You hear the stories all the time - a doctor working at a restaurant, a teacher working as a cabbie, and engineers working as maintenance staff.

Immigrants are a net BENEFIT to the country. They're the reason we HAVE a relatively robust economy and a stable political system.

But our "government" looks like the Membership Committee at an "exclusive Golf Club".

That's right, they're Conservatives.

[dkf]

2. Estimates of illegal immigration In Canada is between 35,000 to 120,000

If they had 11 million illegal immigrants they would think it was a problem too.

Their population is 34 million right now.

[pampango]

3. Their rate of legal immigration is double our rate of legal and illegal immigration combined.

Their immigration system is very generous but also very strictly enforced. You are right that their strict enforcement means they have few illegal immigrants.